Kratom: Traditional Medicine from Southeast Asia

Kratom is a tree originating from Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia). Its botanical name is Mitragyna speciosa. Kratom is included in the same family as the coffee tree (Rubiaceae). Kratom leaves have been used as herbs since ancient times by the Southeast Asian countries. It is used as a traditional medicine to function as a stimulant at low doses, sedative at high doses, relieves pain, diarrhea medications, and treatments for drug addiction, opiates, etc. Many people report that the use of Kratom an effective treatment for arthritis, restless foot syndrome (RLS), and fibromyalgia.

How to take or get it?

In their original region, Kratom leaves are often chewed fresh (usually after removing the central vein of the yarn). Dry leaves can also be chewed, but, because it is rather hard to chew the dried leaves, most people prefer to crush Kratom or powdered it so they can swallow it more easily. Kratom powder can be mixed with water and then drunk. This method is very quick and easy. Besides, Kratom can also be mixed with other ingredients, such as fruit juice or milk. The use of chocolate milk is strongly suggested in order to cover the bitter taste of Kratom.

How to consume it?

For the first usage, health experts and therapists suggest the consumer to do the following things:

When you wake up, normally your stomach is not full because you have not eaten anything yet. With an empty stomach, you are suggested to swallow 6 capsules of Kratom.

When you have not slept yet, and your last meal is three or five hours ago

Next, determine the dosage that suits your body condition, because everyone will give different reactions, influenced by the physical and psychic condition of the body. Do not consume too much if you are not yet sure. It is better for you to consume it little by little, so that you can see your body’s reaction to this herb.

There are so many ways of consuming this traditional medicine. Below are some ways of processing and consuming the leaf which you can choose based on your preference.

Treat it as dry leaf.

If you want to make consume it dry, you are highly recommended to strip the leaves as powder, because the dried leaves are difficult to chew and swallow. The simplest method consumes Kratom is by swallowing the dry powders.

Put Kratom powder in a capsule. It can make it even easier to swallow, without tasting its bitterness.

Consume it as tea

Kratom can be boiled briefly in boiling water and then consumed as tea. Due to the low solubility of active alkaloids in water, it is suggested that plant material can be consumed with tea rather than filtered out.

Extraction

Alkaloids in Kratom can be extracted, including mitragynine and 7-OH-mitragynine which are not easily soluble in water, but can be extracted with other solvents.